Denosa Limpopo Page

04/02/2016

This year's theme for International Nurses Day - 12 May 2016

02/02/2016

DENOSA encourages its members who have registered for the 3rd SA Nurses' Conference to apply for DENOSA Travel Grant.
..............................................................................................

Some of the conditions for DENOSA members to apply for Travel Grant are the following:

Proof of registration for the conference

Have been a DENOSA member for five years uniterrupted

Grant will be awarded annually for attending international congresses, the value and number of which be determined by the Finance Committee.

A maximum of two (2) persons will be sponsored per congress.

International congresses held recently/due to be held in South Africa will be taken into consideration.

Preference shall be given to persons delivering a paper or participating in some other way.

Preference shall be granted to persons whose study tour is related to priorities identified by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa.

Preference shall be granted to persons who have been paid up members of DENOSA for at least five (5) years.

Candidates can qualify once in five (5) years for this grant.

Preference will be given to members who can provide proof of involvement in the activities of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa.

Candidates must undertake to return to South Africa to promote professional development related to the topic of the conference/study tour.

The successful candidates should submit to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa a report on the congress that was attended within two (2) months of returning.
.............

To apply, please click the link at the bottom of the page after you have clicked this link and fill in the form in full and send to: [email protected]

Here is the link: http://www.denosa.org.za/Directorates.php?id=382
............................................

To register for the conference, fill in you details in the electronic application form on the conference website: www.sanursesconference.co.za

Bursaries and Travel Grant

28/12/2015

It is this time of the year where we reflect back and say a lot has happened but much has been achieved. The objective is always to double our efforts each time we enter the new year. Have a wonderful season and a fruitful, properous, a new year full of blessings. God bless. Kwena

12/10/2015

Press release

Monday, 12 October 2015

Upcoming 3rd SA Nurses’ Conference to discuss NHI, traditional health practitioners and gross shortage of nurses in the country

The upcoming 3rd South African Nurses’ Conference looks set to tackle the contemporary nursing issues and policies, including identifying the role and scope of nurses in tackling the newly-adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by United Nations General Assembly as the post-2015 global agenda.

The conference will further assess the progress of the country towards National Health Insurance (NHI) and the role of nurses, as well as to look into the integration of traditional medical practitioners into the comprehensive healthcare system in the context of providing universal health coverage. Severe shortage of nurses in the country will come under the spotlight, as nurses have had to work with half the staff complements in many institutions.

Held under the theme: ‘Together we can strengthen the nursing theory and the practice landscape,’ the conference will be held from 24-26 February 2016 at Birchwood Hotel in Benoni and will see more than 2000 nurses from all corners of the country converging under one roof tackling matters of relevance to health policies, nursing practice, education and professional development.

The conference, which is held bi-annually, is organised by DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI), a professional wing of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA).

Nurses of all sectors, categories and levels of practice will be divided into five different discussion commissions, under the guidance of seasoned nurse leaders and veterans from the academia, regulatory body, labour and government. The five discussion commissions are:

- Advancing Holistic Nursing Practice
- Contemporary Nursing Issues
- Investing in Nursing – The Human Capital in Health
- The Trashing floor: Teaching and Learning
- Students voice as the rising nurse leaders

The conference has proven to be a unique platform where policy formulators and implementers meet under one roof to clarify matters of ambiguity. The previous conference saw Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, the then Minister of Public Service and Administration, Lindiwe Sisulu, as well as MEC of Health in North West province, Magome Masike, gracing the conference with their presence and taking to the platform to provide answers and update on matters that concern all departments.

Student nurses will also add their voice at the conference about their experience of rejection, given the latest developments where provincial departments have not absorbed community service nurses due to lack of funding. The conference will also discuss unilateral moratoriums by various provincial governments in filling of vacant positions.

Other issues to be discussed at the conference include the proposed move of nursing education to the Department of Higher Education and Training from the custodianship of the Department of Health in line with the Nursing Strategy and the implications of this for nurse educators and student nurses as well as career path going forward.

For more details on the conference, nurses can visit the conference website: www.sanursesconference.co.za or contact DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI) on 012 343 2315.

End

Issued by DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI)
For more information, contact:
Wanda Mlotshwa, Head of DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI)
Mobile: 083 282 8833
Or
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communications Manager
Mobile: 079 875 2663
Website: www.denosa.org.za
Facebook: SA Nurses Conference
Twitter:

08/10/2015

Invitation to all nurses... - 24-26 February 2016

07/10/2015

Workers march throughout the country for Decent Work

Workers from all sectors are marching to various points throughout the country in the call for Decent Work for workers around the world.

The march is legally protected, meaning all workers are free to take part in the march and they won't be disciplined by employers for doing so.

The marches will hand over memorandum of demands from relevant stakeholders.

Union leaders are leading the marches in all provinces as deployed by COSATU. DENOSA leaders and members are part of the march countrywide. In some provinces workers are hosting pickets, and there are more than five marching venues in others.

Through the marches, workers are highlighting the following:

Massive amount of jobs that are being across different sectors of the economy through mass retrenchments

Calling for rejection of the Davis Commission's proposals to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) that people are charged whenever they buy at shops.

The immediate implementation of an efficient reliable public transport system.

Scrapping of e-tolls;

Urgent progress in the realization of National Health Insurance (NHI).

End

06/10/2015

Media statement

Tuesday, 06 October 2015

DENOSA in support of WHO’s new treatment protocols for HIV/AIDS

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) is in full support of the release last week of the new guidelines on HIV treatment by World Health Organisation (WHO), and calls for beefing up of personnel in order for the country get ready for the increased initiation of HIV patients on ARV.

The new guidelines recommend that initiation of HIV positive patients onto ARVs programme should commence as soon as the patient is diagnosed. South Africa’s HIV guidelines say HIV positive patients should be initiated into ART once their CD4 count is below 500. The new guidelines from WHO is a remarkable improvement.

As DENOSA, we commend these new guidelines as they are in the best interest of patients to get treatment as opposed to waiting for a patient’s condition to deteriorate before intervening. We encourage our government to embrace this new protocol as soon as possible, as it will have positive spin-offs for the country’s average life expectancy which is likely to increase if we are to follow the guidelines from WHO.

Economists agree that the main driver of the country’s economy is the health status of its people. DENOSA believes the guidelines give South Africa an opportunity to strengthen the fundamental and the most critical element of the country’s economic growth drive – its people.

DENOSA strongly believes that few things will have to be taken into cognisance, however, for the country to implement the new recommended guidelines properly, as this will imply that more patients would be on government’s programme. Personnel numbers in the country’s health system is one such element that we believe it must be addressed as a matter of urgency if we are to achieve great results.

From a nursing perspective, many health centres are well short of nurses in critical areas and in some institutions staff complements are half of what they should be. Implementing the new recommendations would also require the lifting of moratorium on filling in of vacant positions as has been the case in some provinces like North West and Eastern Cape. Or else, queues in our facilities will become longer and severely compromise the quality of patient care in general.

As DENOSA we are banking on the spirit of our health minister who has been a champion in addressing the HIV pandemic in the country. We hope he receives the necessary cooperation and support from Treasury so that austerity measures don’t suppress the potential of Health Department in improving the lives of citizens.

End

Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA)

18/09/2015

At DENOSA Brown Bag Lunch Seminar this afternoon, DENOSA NEC was briefed informally by the Department of Higher Education and Training on the current state of the proposed migration of Nursing Education to Higher Education band. This also relate to the implication of nursing training location outside the Department of Health. The following summary can be shared:

The Department of Health and the Department of Education(DHET) are working on a Migration Strategy as a way to manage the transition process within the outcome of the Nursing summit of 2011 and the new nursing qualifications which are packed within the higher education band. The acknowledgement that nursing must be a national competence is embraced as part of this process.

80 percent of nurses are currently produced by public nursing colleges, and only 20% is produced by universities in the country. The Council of Higher Education require nursing education institutions to comply with the 19 criterion e.g., nursing educators qualifications, infrastructure etc., for accreditation.

SANC has commenced with the process of phasing out legacy qualifications towards implementation of the New Qualifications Framework programme ass from 1st July 2015.

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) suggest 2018 as the better date for phasing out the legacy qualifications in order to allow a smooth transition and to curb unintended consequences, such as remuneration conflict, competition for employability amongst others.

DHET shared that some nursing colleges are still far from being ready, and that few are ready; in terms of required qualification levels, infrastructure, clinical practice environment and access to universities and considering the distribution of disease burden in the country.

There is a burning issue and uncertainty on the skills levels of nurse educators and how many will qualify to lecture at university if nursing colleges were to migrate to Higher Education and Training.

If nursing colleges were to go to Higher Education and Training, there is still uncertainty on the status and availability of funding under HPDG (Health Profession Development Grant), NSFAS, clinical placement grant.

There are the following matters to be considered:

Offering Nurse Education outside the domain of Higher Education and Training has a number of funding and structural implications.

E.g. there is no certainty on where the stipend will come from, if Department of Health loses custodianship of nursing education.

The number of nurses who have masters qualification as a legal requirement to teach at a university is not quantified yet, or even those who are currently studying for their masters qualification so as the Colleges can qualify to offer a Bachelor program.

The consultation process to synergise the old cadre and new cadre in terms of scope of practice, job description remuneration and specialities has not been fully explored. Caution is implied if this process does not unfold where the employer might face conflict and an aggrieved employees.

DHET have a proposed a model to match what is offered at universities and explore support mechanisms for colleges to adapt and grow gradually into the new higher education environment.

Accreditation of universities takes up to 18 months due to stringent processes, and the fear is that not all colleges meet the quality assurance standards, and this may delay the process further if it is not addressed now.

The colleges will have to have their own legal boards as a requirement.

the proposal further say both Departments' DDGs through JHSEC meet and determine the state of readiness of nursing colleges to meeting the quality assurance standards.

The Minister of Higher Education never approved this proposal, and suggested that a feasibility study be done by HET to determine the state of readiness of nursing colleges in this regard.

DHET cautioned of the past experience whereby the incorporation of Teaching Education training into universities led to lower funding and drastic drop in the production of teachers. Therefore it was understood that this scenario must not be allowed to repeat itself with the nursing qualifications.

The fact is that currently, students at universities are trained for a national demand, whereas nursing colleges train for the provincial and regional health demands. This might challenge the capacity within the universities, and the caution is that if migration of nursing education to HET were to succeed, clustering universities according to uniformity of diseases in their areas has to be thought through very carefully.

The assurance shared was there is still cross departmental (DoH and DHET) consultations pending the outcome of the broader feasibility study as recommended by the Department of Higher Education and Training.

End

15/09/2015

161 Days to go.

A reminder about the 3rd SA Nurses Conference coming up from 24 to 26 February 2016 at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.

This is an ideal conference not to be missed by nurses in the country. Nurses are encouraged to apply for skills development funds at their institutions on time for this conference.

Early bird registration of R2,800 for practicing nurses and R2000 for student nurses closes on 30 November 2015.

Thereafter from 1 December 2015, registration will be R3,500 for practicing nurses and R2, 500 for student nurses.

For online registration, visit the conference website: http://www.denosa.myrsvp.co.za/registration.html

09/09/2015

A clarion call for all nurses to come home - the home of nurses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNMldrr6VVs

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (https://www.youtube.com/editor)

02/09/2015

DENOSA taking part in a TV discussion on safety & rights of health workers in the workplace on Saturday 29 August.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JebOB-qY-KI

The culture of neglect of workplace health and safety impacts not only healthcare workers, but also contributes to a declining quality of health care that th...

27/08/2015

3RD SA Nurses Conference calling student nurses and commservers to submit abstracts for conference in February 2016.
..........................................

The 3rd SA Nurses Conference is inviting student nurses commservers to submit abstracts for the Conference especially under track 5 which deals with student matters.

The track is titled: "Students voice as the rising nurse leaders" which will cover the following areas:

Innovative curriculum allowing closer sequencing of theory and practice;

The community service of registered nurses experiences (positive and negative) in health service;

The alignment of theory to practice; how unique is the training and education of student nurses?

Improving collaboration between clinical areas and educational institutions and developing preceptors' lecturing roles.

Submit abstracts at this following email: [email protected]

To submit abstracts, please visit the SA Nurses Conference website on for specifications and requirements on www.sanursesconference.co.za)